BLHS softball coach invited to speak at state coaches’ clinic

Susan Mayberry has built a perennial winner at Basehor-Linwood High School.

The softball program routinely is in the hunt for Kaw Valley League and substate titles.

In the process, Mayberry has developed a reputation as a coach who knows softball and has been called on to educate others on the game.

Mayberry will speak at the Kansas State High School Activities Association Coaches Clinic for the third time Aug. 5-7 in Topeka. Coaches from around the state gather for the clinic.

“I get to see the coaches I coach against, from the western part of the state,” she said. “It gets everyone excited to think about softball again. It’s a privilege, a real opportunity to give back and learn from other coaches that will be there.”

KSHSAA state softball director Francine Martin asked Mayberry to speak at the clinic.

Mayberry said she enjoyed presenting at the clinic and that it was an honor to be asked.

In her presentations, she breaks down the intricacies of softball for coaches who are looking for insight into how other coaches conduct practices and run their teams.

Mayberry provides the audience with different drills they can take back to their respective high schools and conduct with their teams. She will speak about different topics in different sessions, typically discussing five or six drills per session. Some sessions will cover infield play and others will focus on outfield drills or hitting.

Mayberry’s presentations feature videos that she has created showing her players executing different softball drills.

“I talk through the drill as the girls on the field in the video demonstrate them,” she said. “There are a variety of drills that we perform.”

Drills focus on fielding and hitting.

While this is the third time Mayberry has presented at the KSHSAA clinic, she has also spoken for a company called National Sports Clinics that performs clinics nationwide for coaches and players.

Mayberry has gone to Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago and Portland, Ore., to speak to groups of coaches ranging between 250 and 650 people. She also has spoken at high school coaching clinics in Wisconsin and said it is a nice opportunity to help others learn the game.

The exposure can lead to more opportunities for her players as coaches at the collegiate level often will ask her what players are playing in her program have the potential to play in college.

Most players who graduate from the school get scholarship opportunities at the next level.

“I enjoy doing it,” she said. “It is an opportunity to network and expose our program all over the country. There are more communities aware of Basehor-Linwood softball than our community probably realizes.”